《芒果街上的小屋》埃斯佩朗莎的女性意识觉醒过程

1、ConentsChinese Abstract2English Abstract31. Introduction41.1ABriefIntroductiontoSandraCisneros41.2ABriefIntroductiontoTheHouseonMangoStreet41.3ResearchStatusofTheHouseontheMangoStreet52.Female consciousness52.1 Feminism52.2Female Consciousness53.TheProcessofEsperanzasAwakeningofFemale Consciousness6

2、3.1TheAwakeningofHerSelfConsciousness63.2TheAwakeninginHerAdolescence94.The Values of Womens Awakening104.1 Cultural values104.2 Family values114.3 Social values125.Conclusion13References14浅析芒果街上的小屋埃斯佩朗莎的女性意识觉醒过程摘 要芒果街上的小屋是墨西哥裔的美国作家桑德拉希斯内罗丝的代表作。作者透过一位少女的眼睛，以诗化般的语言描写主人翁埃斯佩朗莎在芒果街上的成长经历以及女性意识觉醒过程。通过这一幅

3、幅少数族裔女性的生存状态的画卷描写，强烈地表达其对自由和平等的渴望，以及对男权制社会的反抗。本论文重点探讨埃斯佩朗莎的女性意识觉醒过程，为开辟出女性生存的新空间而不懈努力着。本文主要分为五个章节。绪论主要介绍桑德拉希斯内罗丝、芒果街上的小屋这部作品以及相关的研究情况;第二章节简要概述女性主义以及女性意识相关概念;第三章抽取芒果街上的小屋中的几个小片段，重点探讨埃斯佩朗莎的女性意识觉醒过程;第四章探究芒果街上的小屋女性意识觉醒的价值观;第五章为文章的结语。关键词：芒果街上的小屋；女性意识；觉醒过程On the Awakening Process of Esperanzas Female Cons

4、ciousness in TheHouseonMangoStreetAbstractThe House on Mango Street is a masterpiece by Mexican-American writer Sandra Cisneros. Though the eyes of a young girl, the author uses poetic language to describe the growing experience of heroine Esperanza on Mango Street and her awakening process of femal

5、e consciousness. Though those picturesque depiction of ethnic minority of womens living conditions, the novel strongly expresses the authors desire for freedom and equality, and her resistance to the patriarchal society. This thesis focuses on Esperanzas awakening process of female consciousness and

6、 makes unremitting efforts to open up a new space for female survival. This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter mainly introduces Sandra Cisneros, her work The House on Mango Street and related research. The second chapter briefly summarizes the concepts of feminism and female co

7、nsciousness. The third chapter reveals Esperanzas awakening process of female consciousness by extracting several fragments from The House on Mango Street. The fourth chapter explores the values of the awakening of female consciousness in The House on Mango Street. And the final chapter is the concl

8、usion of the thesis. Key words: The House on Mango Street; female consciousness; awakening process1. Introduction1.1ABriefIntroductiontoSandraCisnerosSandra Cisneros, an American short-story writer and poet, is best known for her groundbreaking evocation of Mexican American life in Chicago. “Born in

9、 Chicago in 1954, Sandra Cisneros is the third child and the only daughter in a family of seven children” (Net 1). Thebrothers wereinfluencedbytheideaofmalesuperiorityandfemale inferiority. They used tomakefunofher, saying that soonerorlatershewouldmarryunder herhusbands name, so she was not a true

10、Cisneros. From that timeCisneros began todevelopgender consciousness atanearlyage and vaguelyawarethat womenhavenoindependentselvesor identities, but they are just the daughters, wives or mothers of others under the cultural traditions of the Hispanic community. The negligence and exclusion of the b

11、rothers filled her childhood with loneliness, which not only sprouted her gender awareness, but also deeply influenced her growth and writing.When Cisneros was 11, her family finally had a house in a community of Chicago on their own where is also the source of inspiration on Mango Street. She wrote

12、 her first poem at the age of 10 and studied writing at university, but she has not found a way to write that suits her. Until she became a graduate student at the University of Iowa, she discovered the advantages of her unique cultural background in writing in the course of her studies. Furthermore

13、, she wrote a short story collection Shouting Female Creek and Others and poems Bad Boys and Loose Woman, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, the novel Carlalo and other series of works by her special growth experience. Eventually, Cisneros was famous for her work The House on Mango Street. Whats more, The Hous

14、e on Mango Street has been translated worldwide and is taught in American classrooms as a coming-of-age novel.1.2ABriefIntroductiontoTheHouseonMangoStreetThe awakening novel The House on Mango Street brought out in the 1980s, when anti-European centralism continued to spread and made invisible contr

15、ibutions to the voice of American minority writers. In this context, Mexican-American writer Sandra Cisneros used her experience to document the plight of minorities in the Latino immigrant community in Chicago at the time. The House on Mango Street is a collection of lyric short songs for memory, a

16、 girls diary recording the growth experience, and a hymn dedicated to immigrants-especially those Latino women on the margins. The book consists of 44 relatively independent short stories, all of which take place basically in a small Chicago street called Mango Street. The recorder and the teller is

17、 a little Mexican girl named Esperanza. Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous, The House on Mango Street narrates the story of Esperanza, her relatives andfriends. Mango street haslesshappiness butmoresadness.Esperanzadoesnt wanttospendherlife in the rundown neighborhood.Sheis eager to wa

18、tchthedifferentworld andprocessahouse on her own. Therefore,Esperanzaleavesthestreettoobtainfreedomand realize thedream in the end.1.3ResearchStatusofTheHouseontheMangoStreetSince its publication in 1984, the work has attracted researchers and readers attention both at home and abroad because of its

19、 novel text and profound themes. In 2006, the Chinese version ofThe House on Mango Streetwas translated by Panpa, which obtains a mounting number of attention. Additionally, the academic research of this novel has been a lot. The focusof research has shifted from the original autobiographic and grow

20、th themes to later national identity, female identity, dual relationships, cultural identity and literature ethical criticism. Most scholars at home and abroad believe that The House on Mango Street has a strong autobiographicalcolor, richcontent, politics, ideology, richcriticism, andintegrationof

21、feminist ideas.2.Female consciousness2.1Feminism The term feminism is used to refer to “the notion of an agenda for womens rights, generally, while feminisms refer to the diverse forms that subsequently emerged in response to cross-cultural differences” (Ampofo et al., 2015: 905).“Feminism demonstra

22、tes, without any possibility of doubt, that the social sciences are sexist, biased, and rotten with patriarchal values” (Stanley & Wise, 1983: 12). “The historical implication of “feminism” usually means movements for recognition of the claims of women for rights (legal, political, familial, etc.) e

23、qual to those possessed by men” (郭婷, 2008: 7). However, the feminism mentioned in this paper focuses on the peace theory of breaking gender hegemony and male discourse power. Feminist theory originated in France, and then spread to Britain and the United States. “It generally refers to womens claims

24、 and efforts to fight for equal social rights with men” (李丽红, 2019(9): 186).Sexism tries to dispel the social concept and social system under the background of male chauvinism, and completely eradicate the social and cultural soil that breeds gender discrimination. Its main characteristic is critici

25、zing the male chauvinism and arousing the female subject consciousness.2.2Female ConsciousnessFemale consciousness is the concept of women and a product of history. “It refers to looking at things from the perspective of women, observing and thinking about everything in life with the eyes of women.

26、It unifies man and woman and embodies the value pursuit that includes gender and transcends gender. Therefore, female consciousness includes two aspects: womens gender consciousness and peoples social consciousness” (周标, 2013(2): 160).“Female consciousness is the central theme of feminism. And it fo

27、cused on the women characters inner thoughts in the self-development, which is described by the women novelists” (张米英, 2009(11): 23). Female consciousness is a time-honored subject, which is a focus of attention in many literary works in ancient and modern. Marx proposed the definition of subjectivi

28、ty in the view of social women. The conscious awareness of their status, role and value is the main reason to motivate women to pursue independence and take the initiative and creativity. The awakening of female consciousness in western countries originated in the middle of the 19th century. At that

29、 time, women were eager to obtain the same social status as men and change the traditional idea that women are in a weak position. In The House on Mango Street, the author repeatedly expressed her dissatisfaction with the status quo by the tone of the novels characters. At the same time, she also ha

30、d a lot of resistance. This female consciousness was incompatible with the social situation at the time. In the long-term feudal society, men have always host most of power and women have almost no social status at all. They cannot participate in many things in society and are oppressed by men menta

31、lly and physically. The formation of traditional ideas is related to various factors such as social systems and economic conditions. With the development of society and the progress of the times, women have begun to think about their rights and form independent ideas. They strive to turn around the

32、situation and fight for their rights (赵永平, 2012).3.TheProcessofEsperanzasAwakeningofFemale Consciousness3.1TheAwakeningofHerSelfConsciousness The House on Mango Street is a Chicano literary work that gradually emerged from the collision of Mexican-style thinking and American native traditions. Cisne

33、ros creative purpose was to describe a struggle to obtain womens autonomy. The specific era background makes this work also deeply reflects the supremacy of patriarchal control of womens destiny in the turbulent times. The sharp and fierce contradictions of the simple desire for life and the social

34、environment determine the awakening of Esperanzas female consciousness. In the course of her growth, she saw the tragedy of her relatives and friends, which warn her and make her female self-consciousness gradually wake up.3.1.1AwarenessofGenderDifferenceThe boys and the girls live in separate world

35、s. The boys in their universe and we in ours. My brothers for example. Theyve got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house. But outside they cant be seen talking to girls. Carlos and Kiki are each others best friends . not ours (Cisneros, 1991: 8). Her brothers play their own and do not allow

36、girls to participate in their game. Furthermore, Esperanzas good friend Sally was repeatedly beaten by her father just because she talked to the boy. It can be seen that Esperanza has instilled in the family and society since childhood when boys and girls originally live in different worlds, and boy

37、s have different powers. Women can only change their destiny by putting on high heels and becoming beautiful. She always believed that the man and the woman had other thoughts. It wasnt untilBamwas goingto kiss Michellethatchangedhermind. Itmadeher understand that theman woulduse his position advant

38、age to easily seize what they want despite the girl did not want to give. Whats more, sherealizesthatwomanisjustabootyformenand atoolthatmen optionally use inspite ofherhavingagoodface.3.1.2Womens Status in MarriageEsperanzas mother used to be a woman with a high-quality pursuit of life. She would p

39、aint when she had time, and would watch ballet in a good mood. Moreover, she can speak two languages, sing songs and dramas and recognizes how to fix the television. Hence, in Esperanzas eyes, her mother is the embodiment of beauty, kindness, and sweetness. However, such a brilliant and talented wom

40、an had to marry a man early and dedicate all her youth and talents to the family selflessly. Even if she possessed numerous skills, her good artistic talent is used for housework, and she doesnt even know how to take to the city center. Furthermore, she said “I couldve been somebody, you know?” (Cis

41、neros, 1991: 90). All she left was an endless sigh, and she could only remember her colorful dreams in this way of remembering the past. She used her life experience to tell her daughter that marriage and family would only limit womens freedom and waste their talent.My aunt, a little oyster, a littl

42、e piece of meat on an open shell for us to look at. She had been dying such a long time we forgot. Maybe she was ashamed. Maybe she was embarrassed it took so many years. The kids who wanted to be kids instead of washing dishes and ironing their papas shirts, and the husband who wanted a wife again

43、(Cisneros, 1991: 60-61). This article describes the fate of aunt Lupe, who is suffering from terminal illness. This woman who dedicated her life to the family can only die in guilt and distress. This made Esperanza more soberly aware that womens status in marriage is a commodity that their husband purchased them from their father in order to take care of the family. Nevertheless, when she couldnt fulfill the responsibilities and obligations of the mother and wife, her existence lost value.From her mothers and aunts experiences, Esperanza saw the position of women in